Classical and Operant Conditioning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Classical and Operant Conditioning - Assignment Example For instance, wearing a pullover or a jacket for me would be a cultural response in a place that would be colder than the place I belong to. My religious beliefs too would be influenced by the place that I belong to and thus, plays a large part in determining my identity as a human being. The eating habits of a culture would refer to the manner of eating food and what it consist of. 2. Define, compare, and contrast race and ethnicity. Discuss the origin and history of each term, and discuss its social implications today. Where the word race originated from is unclear; however, there are speculations that it may have its roots in the term ‘razza’, an old Italian word that refers to the lineage of a person (American Heritage Dictionary). It is used today to distinguish between people who have similar gene pools and have certain physical features in common. Ethnicity, on the other hand, refers to the place of a person’s origin and is derived from the Greek word †˜ethnikos’, a word that means ‘people’ or ‘nation’ (The Free Dictionary). It therefore refers to a collective that is created as a result of political motives. Even today, the word is used to refer to the origins of a person. People belonging to the same ethnicity may thus, differ racially. Race is however, a biological grouping and may constitute a single ethnicity. 3. - Compare and contrast the three modes of food production strategies. Discuss the relationship between the natural environment and food production strategies. The agricultural mode of food production is the most common mode of producing food in the world. Hunting is another form, while gathering food can be another. While the agricultural mode of food production is reliable and ensures a constant supply of food, the same cannot be said about other forms of food production strategies. Hunting and gathering are modes of producing food that are largely dependent upon chance. Agricultura l forms of the production of food enable women to take a part in work outside the homes while the others, in most cultures, do not. All these strategies have the common factor of the natural environment from which food id procured. The amount of game that is present and the fertility of the soil of a particular place decide the strategy employed there. 4. Compare arranged marriages to love marriages. What purpose does each serve in a culture? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Illustrate your discussions with specific examples. Arranged marriages refer to marriages that are conducted according to the will of the parents of the couple, while love marriages are conducted according to the will of the persons who get married. Arranged marriages are a means of procreation for a line without the person involved having to make any effort on his or her own. Love marriages, on the other hand, require effort on the part of both members of a couple. Love marriages are often use d as a means of joining two large fortunes to create an even larger fortune. Love marriages often defy the conventional arrangement of the society and the divisions of class and ethnicity. While arranged marriages ensure the survival of the line, love marriages ensure that the two people involved are comfortable with each other. 5. Define the concept of sustainability and discuss its importance in today's global economy. Use specific examples to illustrate your dis

Ballet d'action by Matthew Bourne and Mats Ek Essay

Ballet d'action by Matthew Bourne and Mats Ek - Essay Example In his book, Lettes sur la danse, et sur les ballets (Letters on Dancing and Ballets), Noverre underlines the importance of expressions rather than techniques and masks as these were the skills which showed the purpose of the ballet. During those days, ballets were based on ancient Greek myths and dramas. But these were becoming obsolete and romance was replacing myths as topics of interest. The realities of life were harsh and there was no better way to escape them than entertainment which dwelt on romantic plots to uplift drooping spirits. (Ballet History)1. According to Alistair Macaulay, under whose tutelage Bourne graduated in dance, Bourne was endowed "with a particular choreographic talent". Bourne had a love for theater, film and musicals since childhood. But he began taking his dance lessons only when he was 22. Even while he was still learning, Macaulay did not lose sight of Bourne's special abilities. In the second and third years of his graduation, he was particularly watched by Macaulay who observed the special methodology Bourne was using. "In one piece, it was a special step. In another, it was his nonstop flow of changing dance ideas. In a third, it was his dance rhythm." In each case, Bourne was taken aside by his tutor and told that he was showing something rare (The San Francisco Chronicle)2. Mats Ek, like Bourne, enjoys the legacy of his forerunners of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. And as a bonus, Ek is doing wonders with the additional benefits of modern inventions and technology. These are times when it is possible to animate non-living objects like the washing machines, refrigerator, television, doorposts, and so on, and vice versa. By this, I don't mean to demean the achievements and facilities available to our grand forefathers. The very fact that they had the foresight to leave an imprint of what they considered vital to perfect art is an achievement. Noverre did not live to enjoy the full fruit of his labor, but he left it with impeccable selflessness for his followers. He exhibited remarkable zeal and faith in etching a living pattern in his sphere of art which he saw from a distance his followers were bound to pick up. The world, particularly, Europe in Noverre's time was not what that continent is now. The centuries of Noverre's time was experiencing a litmus test, historically, politically and scientifically. Strong undercurrents of unrest in France, coupled with wars between France and England, and the bloody competition between France, England, Portugal and Holland for political and economic gains in Asia, Africa and America, kept the world on its toes, with Europe serving as the epicenter of these unrests. A look back at History Jean Georges Noverre, the Shakespeare of ballet, doggedly struggled to infuse expressiveness in dance. He did not like the way dances were being aimlessly performed. He wanted the ballet to be imitative of life. And for this he thought it necessary to supplement movements with appropriate

Making Connections Essay Example for Free

Making Connections Essay In â€Å"Werner†, Hoeflich is sharing very intimate and specific details about his experience. Beard Probably met Hoeflich on several occasions in order to gain his trust before he was able to collect some of the details that he included in his work. It most likely took Beard days of asking just the right questions to write â€Å"Werner. † In this piece, Werner is presented as both weak and strong. In the beginning of the story, he is completely caught off guard by the fire in his home, but then the author follows with a story of Werrner cliff diving. Beard describes Werner diving out of his apartment window with athletic elegance, and then proceeds to tell us about Werner crying in the ambulance. At the end of the story, Beard describes Werner â€Å"never being able to confuse himself with the old Werner. † I am left wondering what Werner did after his accident. We know he always felt pain since, but I wonder in what other ways it affected his life. Zinner emphasizes balancing quotes with narrations which Beard did very well. He also spoke of not changing the quotes in order to preserve the character’s voice. Beard did a very good job of depicting Werner’s personality through the quotes he chose. 2. Gladwell began the piece by describing an event very vaguely, and then slowly gave us more details. He ended the story by teaching us one of the lessons that Cesar learned through his experience. I like that Gladwell keeps us wondering at the beginning of his piece. He could be talking about any number of things. I liked the ending because the reading was able to see another side of Cesar. Bow, not only was he an expert on dog behavior; he knew quite a bit about human behavior as well. I didn’t like that he chose to describe Cesar in his introduction. I also didn’t like that in the conclusion, he told a story of Cesar failing to be able to do his job. I would have described Cesar after I finished telling the story of Sugar and Lynda. I would have told the story of Cesar failing before I talked about Cesar learning about human behavior. Gladwell did a good job of hooking the reader. After the first sentence, I was left wondering what Gladwell was talking about. He also did a good job of knowing when to end the story. If he had continued on for much longer, the reader would have lost interest. 3. Ingram’s message was that this was she experienced was a very confusing time for everyone. Not all Germans hated Jews, and not all Jews resented Americans. She wanted to provide a different perspective on the war than the ones we hear most often. When I was finished reading this piece, I felt a sense of sadness. Ingram wanted us to see that although the Hamburg people were grateful for being saved, they were still haunted by the sight of their dead neighbors and friends. In order for any good to come, sacrifices had to be made. Ingram begins her memoir with a story of her bravely saving her mother’s life and uses very frank and blunt language in order to establish power. Zinner recommends that an author write without being to egotistical and to use vivid sight and smell language. Ingram did a very good job of painting a picture in the reader’s mind without making herself the hero in every situation. 4. Rodriguez was trying to tell us that there is a big change coming in California and in America. No longer do you have to come to California to live your dream. A person can stay at home and achieve it just as easily, but don’t be surprised when it doesn’t come true. I imagine that the audience had a love/hate relationship with this piece. They thought it was beautifully written and brought up excellent points, but hated to admit that what Rodriguez was saying was true. In describing East Cobb, I would use the terms† large houses, fast food, many cultures, crowded schools, crowded streets, expensive cats, large lawns, family secrets, intelligent kids, and drug abuse. Rodriguez described the California that we all know, but he also went deeper and described to us in great detail the California that very few people see. 5. Singer posed a question. Then, he spent a paragraph or two answering the question. He did this repeatedly throughout his work and added supporting details along the way. Singer gave a very convincing argument. He appealed to the emotions of a sensitive reader with the child in the pond analogy. HE appealed to the logic of a skeptical reader with all his statistics. This article would persuade most people to be more charitable. It would not provide a very convincing argument to the people with lower incomes. Singer did a very good job of cutting the clutter. He used simple language and said exactly what he meant. I also felt Singer’s personality through his writing. He is very realistic and believes that we should all be more charitable.

Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management

Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT In todays turbulent economic environment, firms are striving for ways to achieve competitive advantage. One of the approaches is to manage the entire supply chain to reduce costs and improve performance to create competitive advantage and business success. This dissertation explores and investigates how high technology firms use supply chain management to gain competitive advantage and increase business success. The research objective is to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management will help a firm to be competitive and successful. To this end, the critical success factors that make a company more competitive are identified. The research design is based on the established and recommended procedures of multiple case study research methodology; and this methodology is used to gather data from five companies in California, USA. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case analysis for the purpose of theoretical generalization about the research issues. The results identify two clusters of company behavior and characteristics, specifically traditional ‘old style manufacturing companies and progressive manufacturing companies. Each cluster of company behaves differently. At the traditional manufacturing companies, the selection of critical supply chain management factors is internally focused on factors that are manufacturing and quality focused, while at the progressive manufacturing companies the selection of critical supply chain management factors is externally focused on factors that are directed to customers and information systems. There are differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and benchmark (or commodity) companies that were selected in this study. The benchmark companies select supply chain management factors that focus on customer services and quality. This approach is, possibly, due to the fact that the benchmark companies deal in commodity type products and hence they have to focus on differentiating themselves through strong customer services and quality products. Additionally, with the help of supply chain metrics, financial performance data, and understanding the various companies, it is possible to determine which critical supply chain factors best can contribute to business performance. At the case study companies, an external focus on supply chain management factors such as a strong focus on customer relationship and management, gives better business results. Finally, this study has proposed a novel and new approach to improving customer satisfaction by using QFD methodology to identify performance gaps (and opportunities) from the customers viewpoint in supply chain management. If the companies wish to increase customer satisfaction, they have to use the QFD methodology to identify critical supply chain factors. The reason is primarily because performance gaps derived from customer needs emphasize what the customer wants and that is different from the internal perceptions of a companys managers. The initiatives that provide the greatest opportunity have been identified in this analysis. Overall, these findings can be used by high technology firms to select supply chain strategies that will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve their brand and business performance. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and identify factors affecting the successful implementation of supply chain management. This chapter serves as an introduction to the dissertation. It comprises eight sections, which cover the background to the research, objective of the research and the research questions, justification and significance of the research, a brief description of the methodology, an outline of the structure of the study, key definitions, delimitations of this research, and the chapters conclusion. 1.1 Background A firms strategies, innovations, and well-planned activities will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve its brand and business performance. As firms strive for ways to achieve competitive advantage, they are looking for new ideas and solutions. This dissertation addresses the topic of competitive advantage, reviews how firms attempt to achieve it, and focuses on one aspect of competitive advantage managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage and business success. The early understanding of competitive advantage is based on Leon Walras (1874, 1984) theory of perfect competition. In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are zero in the long run. A later approach is the Industrial Organization approach (Tirole, 1988), which argues that success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. However, the proponents of this approach agree that in the long term there would be industry equilibrium and little profit. One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Michael Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argues that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit.† Porter asserts that, except for microeconomic theory, the strategy field and literature had offered few analytical techniques for gaining this understanding. Porter (1980) argues that with the right approach it is possible to break away from the economic equilibrium situation and achieve superior performance. Therefore he proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that to be successful, the firm has to do well in one or more of these strategies. Porters (1980) ideas and proposals on achieving competitive advantage have influenced many other researchers to propose complementary theories on achieving competitive advantage. All the theories proposed by researchers are supported with examples of winning strategies implemented at renowned companies. The theories include an emphasis on planning (Porter, 1980, 1985), strategic approach (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990, 1998; Porter, 1985, 1990, 1991), marketing strategies (Day, 1994, 1999), value chain management (Porter, 1985), and supply chain management (Christopher, 1998; Poirier, 1999; Tyndall et al., 1998). A theory that has gained momentum in the last few years is the concept of supply chain management. In recent years, there have been numerous advances and developments in supply chain techniques and management. One of the reasons is that as trade barriers drop and markets open, competition has become more intense hence companies need to be more competitive and cost effective. An initiative to help achieve this is a supply chain management program. Supply chain management is the management of upstream and downstream activities, resources, and relationships with suppliers and customers, which is required to deliver products or services. In theory, if this is done well it will lead to competitive advantage through differentiation and lower costs as suggested by Porter (1980). Moreover, some researchers claim that effective supply chain management can reduce costs by several percentage points of revenue (Boyson, et. al, 1999). Furthermore, there has been little verification or research d one on measuring competitive advantage gained through supply chain management. Supply chain management is not a static concept or solution. Instead, new advances and techniques for supply chain management continue to mushroom. This tremendous growth in new ideas and processes is starting to influence and change the business processes and models of companies. Hence companies have many choices in selecting programs in supply chain management. In making their choices, companies need to plan for effective supply chain management, in order to gain competitive advantage. However, to ensure that effective supply chain management can provide business success, this study must determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. Furthermore, these critical success factors must be identified and conveyed to senior management in firms that want to have an effective supply chain management program. 1.2 Objective of this research The objective of this dissertation is to explore and investigate how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. Most importantly, this dissertation endeavors to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. It also explores and investigates the advances and new ideas in supply chain management and examines how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. The company is headquartered in California USA, and this author works for one of the companys business unit as General Manager for Distribution. The request was to investigate the companys supply chain management system and to propose improvements that would make it more competitive This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management is an approach that will help a firm to be competitive and successful. Furthermore, in using supply chain management, firms are faced with choices on what supply chain techniques and developments to adopt for their businesses. This dissertation wil review the choices that high technology companies have today, and will make recommendations to select the best choices, or critical success factors, based on business and customer needs. Therefore, the research objective is to: Determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. In fulfilling this objective, this dissertation also addresses the following research issues: 1. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at various high technology companies? 2. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and non high technology (or benchmark commodity) companies? 3. Will a focus on external supply chain management factors give better business results? 4. Are perceived critical gaps (and opportunities) in performance derived from traditional methodology similar to those deployed from customer needs? In this study, the critical success factors to make a company more competitive are identified. To ensure a robust analysis and conclusion, the expectations and perceptions of respondents, involved in this study, are taken into consideration as well as customer requirements. 1.3 Significance of the research There are many theories and empirical studies on competitive advantage. However, the empirical studies, using mathematical models, tend to be limited in scope (Porter, 1991; Buzzel and Gale, 1990), and do not include supply chain management parameters. While there has been much research on activities that can provide competitive advantage, there is little knowledge on the process of selection and impact of supply chain management on the competitive position and business performance of a high technology firm. Firms need to understand how supply chain management can help them achieve competitive advantage. Furthermore, there is an expectation that high technology companies will use leading edge technology and invest heavily in supply chain management. This dissertation makes the following contributions: 1. Fulfils a request from a high technology company: The author of this study works for a high technology company, head-quartered in California USA, and was requested to investigate the companys (business unit) supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. 2. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from a high technology companys viewpoint. Often when reviewing critical success factors, only the perception of respondents is taken into account. However, in this analysis both the perceptions and expectations of respondents are taken into consideration. Such an analysis will be more robust and will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood. 3. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from customers of high technology companies. To enhance the relevance of the conclusions, customer requirements are also taken into consideration by using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology and these are compared to the high technology companies performance gaps. Such an analysis will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood from the viewpoint of customers of high technology companies. 4. Contributes to the understanding of how high technology companies scope, design, and develop their supply chain management system. 1.4 Research Methodology This study employs the qualitative research process using multiple case studies. There are several reasons for this: Since the focus of this research is on high technology companies operating in California, USA, there is a concern that there will be a small number of companies willing to participate in a large (sample size) quantitative survey. Furthermore face-to-face meetings with respondents can help provide understanding and information on several qualitative areas, such as: reasons for implementing specific supply chain factors (or strategies), customer needs data, and discussions and feedback on the questionnaire. Also, cases can be viewed and studied alone and across cases to provide comparison and contrast and richer details and insights regarding the research issues (Eisenhardt 1989; Stake 1994; Yin 1994). Hence this research will be done via a multiple case study approach using structured interviews with a questionnaire (Yin, 1994).5 1.5 Structure of the dissertation In addition to this introductory chapter, this dissertation consists of four chapters ( 1.1). Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature, addresses the disciplines under investigation, and provides an overview of competitive advantage. The chapter then provides a detailed review of the current literature and practices of supply chain management. With that as the background, chapter 2 continues into identifying gaps in the literature and provides the rationale for selecting the research topic and issues. Chapter 5Conclusion and opportunities for further researchChapter 1IntroductionChapter 3Research methodologyChapter 2Literature review and research issuesChapter 4Data analysis and interpretationsChapter interpretations Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology used for this study and it includes: the justification of the research methodology, a discussion on preparation of the questionnaire and the data gathering process, the process used for data analysis and determining gaps, the process used to generate recommendations from the data, and concludes with a discussion on the limitations of case study research. Chapter 4 summarizes the data collected from the selected companies and respondents and aims to interpret the data in relation to the research objective. Each of the four research issues is analyzed, interpreted, and the detailed findings are presented. The chapter concludes with a summary of the research findings. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the findings and conclusions of the research objective and issues, discusses the contribution of the research findings to the literature and theory, reviews the implications of the findings, discusses the limitations of the research, and concludes with suggested direction for future research. 1.6 Key definitions Definitions adopted by researchers are often not uniform; hence key terms are defined to establish positions taken for this dissertation (Perry 1998). This will ensure that subsequent research, undertaken at a later stage, will better measure and compare what this dissertation has set out to do. †¢ Logistics: The management and movement of product and services, including storage and warehousing, and their transport via air, land, and water (Coyle, Bardi, and Langley, 1988). †¢ Supply chain: Consists of all inter-linked resources and activities needed to create and deliver products and services to customers (Hakanson, 1999). †¢ Supply chain management: This includes managing supply and demand, sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer (Supply Chain Council, 2001). †¢ Supply chain agility or agile supply chain: An agile supply chain is one that is flexible and has a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information systems, and logistics processes. (Christopher, 2000) †¢ Critical success factors (CSF): Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or organization, and therefore may represent those managerial or enterprise areas that must be given continual attention. CSFs include issues vital to an organizations current operating activities and to its future success (Boynton and Zmud, 1984). †¢ Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM is the management of technology, processes, information, and people in order to maximize each customer contact by obtaining a 360-degree view of the customer (Galbreath and Rogers, 1999). †¢ Performance gap: This is a gap between the perceived performance and the expected importance of a factor (in this dissertation it is a supply chain factor). The performance gap provides an indication as to whether executives and managers are successful in translating their vision to their employees and hence such perception may give an indication regarding the degree of employees alignment with the organizations vision. If a factor is critical and has a negative value of factor alignment (perceived performance is less than the expectation), then the organization may have a potential problem with that factor. Information on factor alignment allows executives to develop a strategy to overcome the challenges associated with the gaps between importance and performance. (Martilla and James, 1977). †¢ Quality Function Deployment (QFD): QFD is a comprehensive quality tool that can be used to uncover customers spoken and unspoken needs, and convert these needs to product or service design targets and processes (Akao, 1990). 1.7 Delimitation There are several delimitations in this dissertation. †¢ The theoretical model derived from this dissertation is only applicable to the high technology companies. †¢ The dissertation is focused on companies operating geographically in California, United States of America, where there is a concentration of high technology companies. †¢ This dissertation is an exploratory research and will have to be tested for generalizability in later, more extensive, quantitative research (Perry, 1998). †¢ There is no scientific basis for choosing the number of cases in this dissertation. The number selected is based on the experiences and recommendations of the research and academic community (Eisenhardt, 1989; Perry, 1998). 1.8 Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of the dissertation. The aim, objectives, and justification of the research topic were discussed. The dissertation is an investigation on the impact of a supply chain management system on the competitive position of high technology business firms. It explores and investigates new ideas in supply chain management and examines how high technology firms manage and improve their supply chain management system. Furthermore, this dissertation will analyze the gaps and opportunities for supply chain management in high technology companies and give a set of recommendations. The methodology was briefly described, key definitions were explained, delimitations of this research were addressed, and the structure of the dissertation was outlined. With all the important areas of the research briefly introduced in this chapter, the following four chapters of this dissertation will present detailed description and findings of the research topic. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH ISSUES The previous chapter provided an overview of the dissertation and listed the objective, issues, and significance of the research topic. This chapter reviews the relevant literature and comprises of six sections. The review starts with a discussion on early approaches to understanding a firms performance and its competitive advantage. This is followed by the development of a theoretical framework and a discussion on contemporary approaches to competitive advantage. Next there is a discussion on supply chain management, followed by an overview of advanced supply chain management systems. The last two sections conclude with a discussion on gaps in the literature, identification of areas for further research, and the summary. 2.1 Early approaches to understanding a firms performance and competitive advantage One of the earliest (chronologically) approaches to competitive advantage is the microeconomic approach, or the idea of perfect competition (Walras, 1874, 1969). In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are negligible or low in the long run. However, according to Gill (1991), such a perfect economy is an abstraction, because there are monopolies, oligopolies, and perfect competition. Furthermore, there are also two kinds of competition: spatial and monopolistic. Spatial differentiation pertains to oligopolistic competition (Hotelling, 1929), and it meets consumers different tastes. Monopolistic competition assumes that small firms produce a variety of differentiated products (Chamberlin, 1933; in Gill, 1991). All these situations allow for profit maximization and higher profits (Gill, 1991). The industrial organization (IO) approach takes a richer approach to understanding a firms successful performance. IO differs from the microeconomic approach by introducing variables that explain real-world economic behavior. In IO, there are two competing hypothesis that lead to higher profits and success market power and a firms efficiency (Scherer, 1990; Tirole, 1988). Nevertheless, the IO approach assumes that markets and firms will reach equilibrium, and in equilibrium profits differences will not exist (Tirole, 1988). Both the microeconomic approach and the industrial organization approach assume that all firms would reach equilibrium and have equal profit and success. However, we know from a daily look at many firms performance on the stock market that profit and performance vary across firms, even when they are in the same business. Eaton and Lipsey (1978) have verified that differences in performance and profit exist between firms. 2.2 Contemporary approaches to achieving competitive advantage 2.2.1 Framework to understanding a firms performance One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argued that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit† (Porter, 1980, p. xiii). He proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that if a firm is able to do well in any of these strategies, it will gain competitive advantage. Porters concept is illustrated in 2-1. Generic Competitive Strategies†¢Overall cost leadership†¢Differentiation†¢FocusCompetitive Advantageof a Firm †¢ Cost leadership requires efficient-scale facilities, pursuit of cost reductions, and cost minimization in all areas of the firm. This will give more profit. †¢ Differentiation of product or service requires industry-wide differentiation, including design and brand image, customer service, and distribution or dealer network. Product or service differentiation will help increase customer loyalty and ensure repurchase. †¢ Focus on markets, buyers, or product lines can maximize profits. The framework, in 2-1, shows that the right strategies can provide competitive advantage. Porter (1985) also argues that competitive advantage come from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product. Each of these activities contributes to a firms relative cost position and creates a basis for differentiation. This is the value chain, and a firm has to disaggregate its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities cheaper or better than its competitors (Porter, 1985), and this can lead to a higher profit margin. The value chain concept is illustrated in 2-2. Profit Margin Outbound Logistics Manufacturing Operations, and other Internal Processes Inbound Logistics Procurement Human Resource Management Technology Development Firm Infrastructure and Platform Services Customer Service Marketing and Sales Primary Activities Support Activities Supply Chain Approach Strategic Planning Approach Marketing Capabilities Approach The Value Chain and Theoretical Framework to Achieve Competitive Advantage Adapted from Porter (1985) and this literature review. Note 1: Key approaches to competitive advantage are highlighted with underlined Characters Note 2: The definition of supply chain implies all activities necessary to deliver a product (Hakanson, 1999). Therefore sales, marketing, and customer service activities can be construed as part of the supply chain approach shown in the . In this study, sales and marketing processes, such as demand management, order processing, and customer relationship management are included in the internal processes shown in the and in the supply chain literature review. However, sales and marketing activity, such as sales calls, advertising, product positioning, market research, and some post delivery support processes are excluded from supply chain activity. This is consistent with the approach taken by the Supply Chain Council and the SCOR (Supply Chain Operational Reference) model it uses to measure supply chain activity (Supply Chain Council, 2001). 2.2.2 Summary of contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Porters approach presents new thinking to competitive advantage (Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece, 1991) and has influenced other approaches to creating competitive advantage. Many of the other approaches to competitive advantage are summarized in Table 2-1. From the table, it can be seen that all the approaches to increasing competitive advantage, except for the early microeconomic and industrial organization approaches, fit the theoretical framework in 2-2. However, all these approaches to competitive advantage are complementary and not alternatives or conflicting theories they basically propose various segments of the theoretical framework shown in 2-2. The various approaches are discussed very briefly below, but the last approach (in Table 2-1), Supply Chain Management, is discussed in greater detail. 2.2.3 The strategic planning approach In essence, Porters (1980, 1985) approaches are strategic planning approaches, i.e. a firms competitive advantage can be planned for. This includes planning for differentiation in the value chain, low cost leadership, and focus. Nations can also be competitive (Porter, 1990). Nations need four conditions to gain competitive advantage and be successful. The four conditions are: factor conditions (education and skill levels), demand conditions (or market size), related and supporting industries, and company strategy and rivalry (Porter, 1990). Strategy is â€Å"lucky foresight†¦Strategy is always the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire† according to Hamel (1998). What this implies is that one does not settle for obvious solutions and strategies but should look at alternatives, challenge assumptions, and look at new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. Table 2-1 Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Microeconomic Walras (1874, 1984) Perfect competition results in negligible profits Ideas ignore monopolies, oligopolies, and product differentiation. Profit does vary across firms according to Eaton and Lipsey (1978). Industrial Organization Scherer (1990), Tirole (1988) Success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. All proponents agree that in the long term there will be industry equilibrium and little profit. Porter (1980) Porter (1985) Provides a framework for achieving competitive advantage. Every firm has a generic competitive strategy in cost leadership, market focus, or differentiation. The value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these important activities better than its competitors. Challenges the stereotype approach of perfect competition and industry equilibrium. Provides a prescriptive approach to achieve competitive advantage, but the ideas and solutions are essentially conceptual. Hamel (1998) Strategy is the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire. A firm has to seek alternatives and new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. The Strategic Approach and its Variations Value Chain Approach Strategic Approach Resource Based Approach Wernerfelt (1984), Barney (1991), Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (1991). A firm has to identify specific, or rare, resources that lead to higher profits. Long-term superior performance comes from building product market positions that effectively utilize and maintain these resources. Examples of such resources include customer loyalty, and technological leads. If the resources are unique and difficult to duplicate, then the firm achieves competitive advantage. Table 2-1 (Continued) Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Market Strategy Marketing Capabilities Approach Resource-Advantage Theory Product Differentiation Day (1994,1999), Cool and Dierickx (1989), Aaker (1989), Caves and Ghemawat (1986). Also, Buzzell an Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT In todays turbulent economic environment, firms are striving for ways to achieve competitive advantage. One of the approaches is to manage the entire supply chain to reduce costs and improve performance to create competitive advantage and business success. This dissertation explores and investigates how high technology firms use supply chain management to gain competitive advantage and increase business success. The research objective is to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management will help a firm to be competitive and successful. To this end, the critical success factors that make a company more competitive are identified. The research design is based on the established and recommended procedures of multiple case study research methodology; and this methodology is used to gather data from five companies in California, USA. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case analysis for the purpose of theoretical generalization about the research issues. The results identify two clusters of company behavior and characteristics, specifically traditional ‘old style manufacturing companies and progressive manufacturing companies. Each cluster of company behaves differently. At the traditional manufacturing companies, the selection of critical supply chain management factors is internally focused on factors that are manufacturing and quality focused, while at the progressive manufacturing companies the selection of critical supply chain management factors is externally focused on factors that are directed to customers and information systems. There are differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and benchmark (or commodity) companies that were selected in this study. The benchmark companies select supply chain management factors that focus on customer services and quality. This approach is, possibly, due to the fact that the benchmark companies deal in commodity type products and hence they have to focus on differentiating themselves through strong customer services and quality products. Additionally, with the help of supply chain metrics, financial performance data, and understanding the various companies, it is possible to determine which critical supply chain factors best can contribute to business performance. At the case study companies, an external focus on supply chain management factors such as a strong focus on customer relationship and management, gives better business results. Finally, this study has proposed a novel and new approach to improving customer satisfaction by using QFD methodology to identify performance gaps (and opportunities) from the customers viewpoint in supply chain management. If the companies wish to increase customer satisfaction, they have to use the QFD methodology to identify critical supply chain factors. The reason is primarily because performance gaps derived from customer needs emphasize what the customer wants and that is different from the internal perceptions of a companys managers. The initiatives that provide the greatest opportunity have been identified in this analysis. Overall, these findings can be used by high technology firms to select supply chain strategies that will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve their brand and business performance. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and identify factors affecting the successful implementation of supply chain management. This chapter serves as an introduction to the dissertation. It comprises eight sections, which cover the background to the research, objective of the research and the research questions, justification and significance of the research, a brief description of the methodology, an outline of the structure of the study, key definitions, delimitations of this research, and the chapters conclusion. 1.1 Background A firms strategies, innovations, and well-planned activities will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve its brand and business performance. As firms strive for ways to achieve competitive advantage, they are looking for new ideas and solutions. This dissertation addresses the topic of competitive advantage, reviews how firms attempt to achieve it, and focuses on one aspect of competitive advantage managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage and business success. The early understanding of competitive advantage is based on Leon Walras (1874, 1984) theory of perfect competition. In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are zero in the long run. A later approach is the Industrial Organization approach (Tirole, 1988), which argues that success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. However, the proponents of this approach agree that in the long term there would be industry equilibrium and little profit. One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Michael Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argues that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit.† Porter asserts that, except for microeconomic theory, the strategy field and literature had offered few analytical techniques for gaining this understanding. Porter (1980) argues that with the right approach it is possible to break away from the economic equilibrium situation and achieve superior performance. Therefore he proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that to be successful, the firm has to do well in one or more of these strategies. Porters (1980) ideas and proposals on achieving competitive advantage have influenced many other researchers to propose complementary theories on achieving competitive advantage. All the theories proposed by researchers are supported with examples of winning strategies implemented at renowned companies. The theories include an emphasis on planning (Porter, 1980, 1985), strategic approach (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990, 1998; Porter, 1985, 1990, 1991), marketing strategies (Day, 1994, 1999), value chain management (Porter, 1985), and supply chain management (Christopher, 1998; Poirier, 1999; Tyndall et al., 1998). A theory that has gained momentum in the last few years is the concept of supply chain management. In recent years, there have been numerous advances and developments in supply chain techniques and management. One of the reasons is that as trade barriers drop and markets open, competition has become more intense hence companies need to be more competitive and cost effective. An initiative to help achieve this is a supply chain management program. Supply chain management is the management of upstream and downstream activities, resources, and relationships with suppliers and customers, which is required to deliver products or services. In theory, if this is done well it will lead to competitive advantage through differentiation and lower costs as suggested by Porter (1980). Moreover, some researchers claim that effective supply chain management can reduce costs by several percentage points of revenue (Boyson, et. al, 1999). Furthermore, there has been little verification or research d one on measuring competitive advantage gained through supply chain management. Supply chain management is not a static concept or solution. Instead, new advances and techniques for supply chain management continue to mushroom. This tremendous growth in new ideas and processes is starting to influence and change the business processes and models of companies. Hence companies have many choices in selecting programs in supply chain management. In making their choices, companies need to plan for effective supply chain management, in order to gain competitive advantage. However, to ensure that effective supply chain management can provide business success, this study must determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. Furthermore, these critical success factors must be identified and conveyed to senior management in firms that want to have an effective supply chain management program. 1.2 Objective of this research The objective of this dissertation is to explore and investigate how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. Most importantly, this dissertation endeavors to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. It also explores and investigates the advances and new ideas in supply chain management and examines how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. The company is headquartered in California USA, and this author works for one of the companys business unit as General Manager for Distribution. The request was to investigate the companys supply chain management system and to propose improvements that would make it more competitive This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management is an approach that will help a firm to be competitive and successful. Furthermore, in using supply chain management, firms are faced with choices on what supply chain techniques and developments to adopt for their businesses. This dissertation wil review the choices that high technology companies have today, and will make recommendations to select the best choices, or critical success factors, based on business and customer needs. Therefore, the research objective is to: Determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. In fulfilling this objective, this dissertation also addresses the following research issues: 1. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at various high technology companies? 2. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and non high technology (or benchmark commodity) companies? 3. Will a focus on external supply chain management factors give better business results? 4. Are perceived critical gaps (and opportunities) in performance derived from traditional methodology similar to those deployed from customer needs? In this study, the critical success factors to make a company more competitive are identified. To ensure a robust analysis and conclusion, the expectations and perceptions of respondents, involved in this study, are taken into consideration as well as customer requirements. 1.3 Significance of the research There are many theories and empirical studies on competitive advantage. However, the empirical studies, using mathematical models, tend to be limited in scope (Porter, 1991; Buzzel and Gale, 1990), and do not include supply chain management parameters. While there has been much research on activities that can provide competitive advantage, there is little knowledge on the process of selection and impact of supply chain management on the competitive position and business performance of a high technology firm. Firms need to understand how supply chain management can help them achieve competitive advantage. Furthermore, there is an expectation that high technology companies will use leading edge technology and invest heavily in supply chain management. This dissertation makes the following contributions: 1. Fulfils a request from a high technology company: The author of this study works for a high technology company, head-quartered in California USA, and was requested to investigate the companys (business unit) supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. 2. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from a high technology companys viewpoint. Often when reviewing critical success factors, only the perception of respondents is taken into account. However, in this analysis both the perceptions and expectations of respondents are taken into consideration. Such an analysis will be more robust and will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood. 3. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from customers of high technology companies. To enhance the relevance of the conclusions, customer requirements are also taken into consideration by using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology and these are compared to the high technology companies performance gaps. Such an analysis will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood from the viewpoint of customers of high technology companies. 4. Contributes to the understanding of how high technology companies scope, design, and develop their supply chain management system. 1.4 Research Methodology This study employs the qualitative research process using multiple case studies. There are several reasons for this: Since the focus of this research is on high technology companies operating in California, USA, there is a concern that there will be a small number of companies willing to participate in a large (sample size) quantitative survey. Furthermore face-to-face meetings with respondents can help provide understanding and information on several qualitative areas, such as: reasons for implementing specific supply chain factors (or strategies), customer needs data, and discussions and feedback on the questionnaire. Also, cases can be viewed and studied alone and across cases to provide comparison and contrast and richer details and insights regarding the research issues (Eisenhardt 1989; Stake 1994; Yin 1994). Hence this research will be done via a multiple case study approach using structured interviews with a questionnaire (Yin, 1994).5 1.5 Structure of the dissertation In addition to this introductory chapter, this dissertation consists of four chapters ( 1.1). Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature, addresses the disciplines under investigation, and provides an overview of competitive advantage. The chapter then provides a detailed review of the current literature and practices of supply chain management. With that as the background, chapter 2 continues into identifying gaps in the literature and provides the rationale for selecting the research topic and issues. Chapter 5Conclusion and opportunities for further researchChapter 1IntroductionChapter 3Research methodologyChapter 2Literature review and research issuesChapter 4Data analysis and interpretationsChapter interpretations Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology used for this study and it includes: the justification of the research methodology, a discussion on preparation of the questionnaire and the data gathering process, the process used for data analysis and determining gaps, the process used to generate recommendations from the data, and concludes with a discussion on the limitations of case study research. Chapter 4 summarizes the data collected from the selected companies and respondents and aims to interpret the data in relation to the research objective. Each of the four research issues is analyzed, interpreted, and the detailed findings are presented. The chapter concludes with a summary of the research findings. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the findings and conclusions of the research objective and issues, discusses the contribution of the research findings to the literature and theory, reviews the implications of the findings, discusses the limitations of the research, and concludes with suggested direction for future research. 1.6 Key definitions Definitions adopted by researchers are often not uniform; hence key terms are defined to establish positions taken for this dissertation (Perry 1998). This will ensure that subsequent research, undertaken at a later stage, will better measure and compare what this dissertation has set out to do. †¢ Logistics: The management and movement of product and services, including storage and warehousing, and their transport via air, land, and water (Coyle, Bardi, and Langley, 1988). †¢ Supply chain: Consists of all inter-linked resources and activities needed to create and deliver products and services to customers (Hakanson, 1999). †¢ Supply chain management: This includes managing supply and demand, sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer (Supply Chain Council, 2001). †¢ Supply chain agility or agile supply chain: An agile supply chain is one that is flexible and has a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information systems, and logistics processes. (Christopher, 2000) †¢ Critical success factors (CSF): Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or organization, and therefore may represent those managerial or enterprise areas that must be given continual attention. CSFs include issues vital to an organizations current operating activities and to its future success (Boynton and Zmud, 1984). †¢ Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM is the management of technology, processes, information, and people in order to maximize each customer contact by obtaining a 360-degree view of the customer (Galbreath and Rogers, 1999). †¢ Performance gap: This is a gap between the perceived performance and the expected importance of a factor (in this dissertation it is a supply chain factor). The performance gap provides an indication as to whether executives and managers are successful in translating their vision to their employees and hence such perception may give an indication regarding the degree of employees alignment with the organizations vision. If a factor is critical and has a negative value of factor alignment (perceived performance is less than the expectation), then the organization may have a potential problem with that factor. Information on factor alignment allows executives to develop a strategy to overcome the challenges associated with the gaps between importance and performance. (Martilla and James, 1977). †¢ Quality Function Deployment (QFD): QFD is a comprehensive quality tool that can be used to uncover customers spoken and unspoken needs, and convert these needs to product or service design targets and processes (Akao, 1990). 1.7 Delimitation There are several delimitations in this dissertation. †¢ The theoretical model derived from this dissertation is only applicable to the high technology companies. †¢ The dissertation is focused on companies operating geographically in California, United States of America, where there is a concentration of high technology companies. †¢ This dissertation is an exploratory research and will have to be tested for generalizability in later, more extensive, quantitative research (Perry, 1998). †¢ There is no scientific basis for choosing the number of cases in this dissertation. The number selected is based on the experiences and recommendations of the research and academic community (Eisenhardt, 1989; Perry, 1998). 1.8 Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of the dissertation. The aim, objectives, and justification of the research topic were discussed. The dissertation is an investigation on the impact of a supply chain management system on the competitive position of high technology business firms. It explores and investigates new ideas in supply chain management and examines how high technology firms manage and improve their supply chain management system. Furthermore, this dissertation will analyze the gaps and opportunities for supply chain management in high technology companies and give a set of recommendations. The methodology was briefly described, key definitions were explained, delimitations of this research were addressed, and the structure of the dissertation was outlined. With all the important areas of the research briefly introduced in this chapter, the following four chapters of this dissertation will present detailed description and findings of the research topic. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH ISSUES The previous chapter provided an overview of the dissertation and listed the objective, issues, and significance of the research topic. This chapter reviews the relevant literature and comprises of six sections. The review starts with a discussion on early approaches to understanding a firms performance and its competitive advantage. This is followed by the development of a theoretical framework and a discussion on contemporary approaches to competitive advantage. Next there is a discussion on supply chain management, followed by an overview of advanced supply chain management systems. The last two sections conclude with a discussion on gaps in the literature, identification of areas for further research, and the summary. 2.1 Early approaches to understanding a firms performance and competitive advantage One of the earliest (chronologically) approaches to competitive advantage is the microeconomic approach, or the idea of perfect competition (Walras, 1874, 1969). In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are negligible or low in the long run. However, according to Gill (1991), such a perfect economy is an abstraction, because there are monopolies, oligopolies, and perfect competition. Furthermore, there are also two kinds of competition: spatial and monopolistic. Spatial differentiation pertains to oligopolistic competition (Hotelling, 1929), and it meets consumers different tastes. Monopolistic competition assumes that small firms produce a variety of differentiated products (Chamberlin, 1933; in Gill, 1991). All these situations allow for profit maximization and higher profits (Gill, 1991). The industrial organization (IO) approach takes a richer approach to understanding a firms successful performance. IO differs from the microeconomic approach by introducing variables that explain real-world economic behavior. In IO, there are two competing hypothesis that lead to higher profits and success market power and a firms efficiency (Scherer, 1990; Tirole, 1988). Nevertheless, the IO approach assumes that markets and firms will reach equilibrium, and in equilibrium profits differences will not exist (Tirole, 1988). Both the microeconomic approach and the industrial organization approach assume that all firms would reach equilibrium and have equal profit and success. However, we know from a daily look at many firms performance on the stock market that profit and performance vary across firms, even when they are in the same business. Eaton and Lipsey (1978) have verified that differences in performance and profit exist between firms. 2.2 Contemporary approaches to achieving competitive advantage 2.2.1 Framework to understanding a firms performance One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argued that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit† (Porter, 1980, p. xiii). He proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that if a firm is able to do well in any of these strategies, it will gain competitive advantage. Porters concept is illustrated in 2-1. Generic Competitive Strategies†¢Overall cost leadership†¢Differentiation†¢FocusCompetitive Advantageof a Firm †¢ Cost leadership requires efficient-scale facilities, pursuit of cost reductions, and cost minimization in all areas of the firm. This will give more profit. †¢ Differentiation of product or service requires industry-wide differentiation, including design and brand image, customer service, and distribution or dealer network. Product or service differentiation will help increase customer loyalty and ensure repurchase. †¢ Focus on markets, buyers, or product lines can maximize profits. The framework, in 2-1, shows that the right strategies can provide competitive advantage. Porter (1985) also argues that competitive advantage come from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product. Each of these activities contributes to a firms relative cost position and creates a basis for differentiation. This is the value chain, and a firm has to disaggregate its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities cheaper or better than its competitors (Porter, 1985), and this can lead to a higher profit margin. The value chain concept is illustrated in 2-2. Profit Margin Outbound Logistics Manufacturing Operations, and other Internal Processes Inbound Logistics Procurement Human Resource Management Technology Development Firm Infrastructure and Platform Services Customer Service Marketing and Sales Primary Activities Support Activities Supply Chain Approach Strategic Planning Approach Marketing Capabilities Approach The Value Chain and Theoretical Framework to Achieve Competitive Advantage Adapted from Porter (1985) and this literature review. Note 1: Key approaches to competitive advantage are highlighted with underlined Characters Note 2: The definition of supply chain implies all activities necessary to deliver a product (Hakanson, 1999). Therefore sales, marketing, and customer service activities can be construed as part of the supply chain approach shown in the . In this study, sales and marketing processes, such as demand management, order processing, and customer relationship management are included in the internal processes shown in the and in the supply chain literature review. However, sales and marketing activity, such as sales calls, advertising, product positioning, market research, and some post delivery support processes are excluded from supply chain activity. This is consistent with the approach taken by the Supply Chain Council and the SCOR (Supply Chain Operational Reference) model it uses to measure supply chain activity (Supply Chain Council, 2001). 2.2.2 Summary of contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Porters approach presents new thinking to competitive advantage (Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece, 1991) and has influenced other approaches to creating competitive advantage. Many of the other approaches to competitive advantage are summarized in Table 2-1. From the table, it can be seen that all the approaches to increasing competitive advantage, except for the early microeconomic and industrial organization approaches, fit the theoretical framework in 2-2. However, all these approaches to competitive advantage are complementary and not alternatives or conflicting theories they basically propose various segments of the theoretical framework shown in 2-2. The various approaches are discussed very briefly below, but the last approach (in Table 2-1), Supply Chain Management, is discussed in greater detail. 2.2.3 The strategic planning approach In essence, Porters (1980, 1985) approaches are strategic planning approaches, i.e. a firms competitive advantage can be planned for. This includes planning for differentiation in the value chain, low cost leadership, and focus. Nations can also be competitive (Porter, 1990). Nations need four conditions to gain competitive advantage and be successful. The four conditions are: factor conditions (education and skill levels), demand conditions (or market size), related and supporting industries, and company strategy and rivalry (Porter, 1990). Strategy is â€Å"lucky foresight†¦Strategy is always the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire† according to Hamel (1998). What this implies is that one does not settle for obvious solutions and strategies but should look at alternatives, challenge assumptions, and look at new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. Table 2-1 Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Microeconomic Walras (1874, 1984) Perfect competition results in negligible profits Ideas ignore monopolies, oligopolies, and product differentiation. Profit does vary across firms according to Eaton and Lipsey (1978). Industrial Organization Scherer (1990), Tirole (1988) Success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. All proponents agree that in the long term there will be industry equilibrium and little profit. Porter (1980) Porter (1985) Provides a framework for achieving competitive advantage. Every firm has a generic competitive strategy in cost leadership, market focus, or differentiation. The value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these important activities better than its competitors. Challenges the stereotype approach of perfect competition and industry equilibrium. Provides a prescriptive approach to achieve competitive advantage, but the ideas and solutions are essentially conceptual. Hamel (1998) Strategy is the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire. A firm has to seek alternatives and new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. The Strategic Approach and its Variations Value Chain Approach Strategic Approach Resource Based Approach Wernerfelt (1984), Barney (1991), Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (1991). A firm has to identify specific, or rare, resources that lead to higher profits. Long-term superior performance comes from building product market positions that effectively utilize and maintain these resources. Examples of such resources include customer loyalty, and technological leads. If the resources are unique and difficult to duplicate, then the firm achieves competitive advantage. Table 2-1 (Continued) Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Market Strategy Marketing Capabilities Approach Resource-Advantage Theory Product Differentiation Day (1994,1999), Cool and Dierickx (1989), Aaker (1989), Caves and Ghemawat (1986). Also, Buzzell an

The African Country of Mozambique :: Geography

The African Country of Mozambique Mozambique is a country located on the southeast coast of Africa. It covers 308,642 square miles and has a population of about sixteen million. Maputo is the capitol, largest city, and chief port. Mozambique was governed by Portugal from the early 1500's until 1975 when it became independent after a ten year struggle against Portuguese rule. Mozambique is now controlled by Frelimo (the front for the liberation of Mozambique) the nations only political party. The president of Frelimo is also the nations president. Mozambiques highest governmental power lies with the parties central committee which is made up of fifteen members appointed by Frelimo. This party appoints the two hundred and ten members of the peoples assembly,(Mozambiques legislative body).This group meets twice a year. It's permanent committee handles legislative matters between sessions. Most Mozambicans are black Africans. Other groups such as Arabs, Europeans, and Pakistanis make up less than one percent of the population. Most blacks belong to groups that speak one of the Bantu languages. The largest of these groups, the Makua-Lomwe, accounts for forty percent of the population. The countries official language is Portuguese but few blacks can speak it. Some Mozambicans speak English when conducting business activities. Most Mozambicans are farmers with extremely simple techniques although farmers in some areas of the country use modern techniques. Fifty five percent of the people of Mozambique practice traditional African religions. Of this large group, many are animists who believe that everything in nature has a soul. Others worship spirits of their ancestors. About thirty percent of the population is Christian, mostly Roman Catholic. Many of the remaining are Muslim. Only about twenty five percent of Mozambiques people fifteen or older can read or write but the government has begun programs to help improve education. Almost one half of Mozambique is covered by a flat plain that extends inland from the coast. Land rises steadily beyond the plain and high plateaus and mountains run along much of the western border. Sand dunes and swamps line the coast. Grasslands and tropical rain forests cover much of the country. Many sizable rivers flow east through Mozambique into the Indian Ocean, there basins have extremely fertile soil. Cashew trees and coconut palms grow throughout the country. Animal life in Mozambique includes crocodiles, The African Country of Mozambique :: Geography The African Country of Mozambique Mozambique is a country located on the southeast coast of Africa. It covers 308,642 square miles and has a population of about sixteen million. Maputo is the capitol, largest city, and chief port. Mozambique was governed by Portugal from the early 1500's until 1975 when it became independent after a ten year struggle against Portuguese rule. Mozambique is now controlled by Frelimo (the front for the liberation of Mozambique) the nations only political party. The president of Frelimo is also the nations president. Mozambiques highest governmental power lies with the parties central committee which is made up of fifteen members appointed by Frelimo. This party appoints the two hundred and ten members of the peoples assembly,(Mozambiques legislative body).This group meets twice a year. It's permanent committee handles legislative matters between sessions. Most Mozambicans are black Africans. Other groups such as Arabs, Europeans, and Pakistanis make up less than one percent of the population. Most blacks belong to groups that speak one of the Bantu languages. The largest of these groups, the Makua-Lomwe, accounts for forty percent of the population. The countries official language is Portuguese but few blacks can speak it. Some Mozambicans speak English when conducting business activities. Most Mozambicans are farmers with extremely simple techniques although farmers in some areas of the country use modern techniques. Fifty five percent of the people of Mozambique practice traditional African religions. Of this large group, many are animists who believe that everything in nature has a soul. Others worship spirits of their ancestors. About thirty percent of the population is Christian, mostly Roman Catholic. Many of the remaining are Muslim. Only about twenty five percent of Mozambiques people fifteen or older can read or write but the government has begun programs to help improve education. Almost one half of Mozambique is covered by a flat plain that extends inland from the coast. Land rises steadily beyond the plain and high plateaus and mountains run along much of the western border. Sand dunes and swamps line the coast. Grasslands and tropical rain forests cover much of the country. Many sizable rivers flow east through Mozambique into the Indian Ocean, there basins have extremely fertile soil. Cashew trees and coconut palms grow throughout the country. Animal life in Mozambique includes crocodiles,

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"Patriotism" by Yukio Mishima   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death, in many places death is feared, taking one's own life is looked upon as cowardly and weak. This story sheds a different light on death; it shows the honor and respectful way of bowing out. To see the honor in death, one must understand the culture and the time period. The story 'Patriotism' written by Yukio Mishima shows a couple?s courage, love and faith as well as the man?s commitment to his country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the story goes, Shinji is a member of the Imperil forces. Shinji has taken an oath to fight for his country; his honor depends on his commitment. He will fight to death and risk his life whenever necessary to protect his livelihood. He's newly married and has even forsaken his honeymoon to fulfill his duties with the army. His wife has taken a silent oath, an understanding that her husband could die at anytime and that she too would accept the fate. This was traditional in Japan; her mother had given her a dagger so that when the day comes she will be ready to fulfill her commitment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Soon though Shinji and Rieko's Commitments to each other and the Imperial Force are challenged. Shinji is informed that his close colleagues and friends have been mutineers from the beginning. As the reality of death fronts itself to Shinji, he must decide whether to fight and possibly live or Take his own life and die. In the Japanese society this is an honorable way for one to bow out. This decision also weighs heavily on his wif...

Changes in the Marketing Environment Essay

In recent times, from an economic environment perspective, people are getting more affluent, even in third world countries like Vietnam, the younger generation are more interested in spending on the latest fashion and gadgets, like iPods. Phone marketers might want to include phone designs which allow for self-expression, hence catering to the younger people seeking to carve out their own identity. For example, young girls in Japan like to stick many shiny crystals on their phones as they see it as a form of beautiful art. Phone marketers can cash in on this growing trend by offering phones which have suitable surfaces for crystal gluing, and they might want to also consider having a tie-up with a suitable bead company in order to have a package selling the crystals together with the phones. An important marketing strategy in catering to the changing political environment would be cause-marketing. It is by cause-marketing that phone marketers can reassure the public that they are soc ially responsible, even in the midst of increasing unethical behaviour existing in society. Cause marketing might be the determining factor which might set a phone or a brand of phones apart, especially if customers have the same perception of 2 brands of phones and are undecided which to choose. Phone marketers can follow Motorola’s lead whereby they produced a red â€Å"razr† phone to promote awareness of aids, which was highly successful. Another important marketing strategy is for the marketer to observe the changing demographic forces and decide which target group they can focus on in order to make the most profits. Quite a few countries in the world are facing an aging population, like Japan, China and Singapore. This might be a good target market to go into, by manufacturing phones which are suited for older people like by having larger screens and more user-friendly buttons. Technological forces are constantly changing, and a good marketer would be able to foresee what kinds of functions people might want in their phones. Marketers might want to research about what form of entertainment is capturing people and cater to these needs. Sony Ericsson realised that music was slowly becoming an integral part of people’s lives, no matter what age and produced the walkman phone series which was highly popular. The path to success and its maintenance depends very much on a phone marketer’s resellers and suppliers, hence phone marketers should engage in tie-ups with them both. A phone marketer’s resellers normally consist of telecommunications companies.  Marketers can offer to sell their phones at a lower price to these companies, and in exchange, persuade them to offer more attractive or cheaper line subscription packages when customers purchase the phones of the marketers’. Marketers should constantly source for more efficient and cheaper suppliers and sign a long-term contract with them. Marketers might also want to consider suppliers based in China or India, as labour in such countries is known to be one of the cheapest, yet efficient, in the world. Lastly, marketers should always keep an eye out for competition and continually check on other phone marketers’ strategies and phone pricing. Marketers should also be aware that competition not only lies with other phone marketers, but in any company that has to do with providing entertainment or convenience to people. For example, Apple is not a phone manufacturer, but it is beginning to slowly capture the phone market due to its iPhone. Phone marketers might want to produce phones which have the capability to rival such phones, or if they are unable to do so run a major advertisement campaign to promote their phones against other rival phones, so as to hopefully mould the public’s thinking into their liking. Alternatively, phone marketers can also liaise with major entertainment companies like Apple or Creative to work together to produce quality phones or gadgets to capture a major share of the phone market.